Recently, Ace Anbender announced on Twitter that he was resigning from MGoBlog. While he did not go into much detail about the reasons for his resignation, I have some assumptions. (I will keep those assumptions to myself.)
I feel compelled to post about Ace since he was such an integral part of MGoBlog, a place that has provided a platform for Touch the Banner and my Michigan fandom in general.
You can hit the jump for more.
Ace joined MGoBlog after writing for The Ace of Sports and The Wolverine Blog, both of which I believe were his own creations. As far as I recall, he was largely brought on to cover recruiting, a gig that eventually expanded into covering a variety of aspects of Michigan sports, primarily Michigan basketball.
I had numerous run-ins with Ace over the years, and I can’t say they were anywhere close to all being positive. I found Ace to be prickly – much like one of his predecessors, Tim Sullivan – and resistant to criticism or differing opinions. I discovered that early on, and as the years went along, that became clearer and clearer to others. He became somewhat notorious for blocking people on Twitter, many of whom claimed they never even interacted with him; frequently, I have seen claims that people think he blocked them on Twitter just because they happened to “like” a tweet with which he disagreed.
Ace also outlined numerous personal struggles, including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). CFS and its treatments are still being explored with no clear path to recovery, as far as I know. If I remember correctly, he went as far as flying to Alabama to see a specialist for this chronic ailment. Due to being unable to work and the cost of treatment, he set up a crowdfunding campaign that resulted in bringing in over $100,000.
And here’s where I come to the defense of Ace. After an initial outpouring of support – and a few Negative Nancy types – it seemed like a large chunk of the crowd turned on him. There were two main angles I saw:
- Ace bought podcasting equipment. I have no idea how much a microphone and some headphones might cost – even some high-quality ones – but just because someone crowdfunds an issue doesn’t mean they can’t purchase anything ever again that might be extraneous. Even if we accept the notion that podcasting equipment for a podcaster is extraneous, Ace should be able to go on a vacation or buy a nice dinner or attend a concert without fearing his donors/detractors will turn on him. Accepting a donation does not mean a person is beholden to the donor’s whims for life.
- Ace was rude to me after I donated. As a person who has a bunch of commenters, readers, and donors that I have never met and will probably never meet, it’s hard to keep track of every faceless human on the internet. Full disclosure: I did not donate to Ace’s campaign. But I saw plenty of claims that Ace was not sufficiently thankful or acted rude toward people who donated to him. In a perfect world, we’re kind to everyone we encounter, whether in the real world or on the internet. In real life, @MichiganFan1985 is indistinguishable on the internet from @MichiganMan_1986. A poor encounter on Twitter or MGoBlog – of which, as I mentioned at the top, there were probably many – means Ace is prickly, not that Ace was necessarily saying, “Thanks for the $100, chump. Now eff off.”
I feel sorry for Ace. Some of his wounds are self-inflicted, but he also has some issues that are not his doing. We all have personal struggles and demons, some worse than others. Just like all of us, there are many layers. I hope he’s able to deal with his struggles successfully and can continue to grow and improve and heal.
As for MGoBlog, personally, I stopped reading Ace’s posts years ago. Not only did he move more into the realm of basketball – which is not my primary focus – but his writing did not inspire me. And that’s okay. There’s a lot of content on the internet I don’t read, and I can guarantee you Ace doesn’t read my stuff, either. I think Ace’s departure – and his vocal detractors’ hopefully fading complaints – will improve the atmosphere at MGoBlog. Will someone fill the void created by his absence? It seems the site is never short on content and has a few willing contributors, including creator Brian Cook, Seth Fisher, and MattEM. I imagine the blog will keep running along pretty smoothly, and hopefully somewhat less controversially.
You need to login in order to vote
You must belogged in to post a comment.